This invention relates to the art of taxidermy and, more particularly, to a combined taxidermy animal head mannequin and mouth assembly.
Animals are often mounted in an open-mouthed pose, to help illustrate the viciousness of the animal. However, many parts of the mouth of an animal are unsuitable for preservation, especially the soft tissues of the gums, the tongue, and the palate. To address this problem, life-like plastic models of tongues and jaws are commercially available to taxidermists. Plastic models of noses and lips are also available. Nose and lip models are available as discrete components, to be attached separately to the taxidermy model. Such plastic models are typically mounted onto a Styrofoam or plastic model of the animal head. The tanned animal skin is then mounted over the head model. Considerable time and skill are typically required on the part of the taxidermist to affix the nose, the lips, and the interior mouth parts to the head model and to dimensionally match the artificial parts to the tanned hide, in order to obtain a life-like taxidermy model. Painting of artificial components may be required.
In recognition of the labor-intensive nature of the existing approach, the present animal head mannequin and mouth assembly has been developed to provide a more efficient technique by which a life-like taxidermy model of an open-mouthed animal may be prepared.
A combination of an animal taxidermy head mannequin and mouth assembly comprising a mouth shell, a mannequin head and a commercially available jaw set is disclosed. The mouth shell has upper and lower jaws, upper and lower lips, a chin and a nose. The mouth shell is dimensionally adapted to receive the commercially-available jaw set to form the mouth assembly. The mannequin head includes an oral cavity which is dimensionally adapted to receive the mouth assembly.